Signal lighting is commonly used in police department vehicles, fire department vehicles, road and utility department vehicles, and/or construction vehicles. Traditional signal lighting includes light bars that are mounted on the roof of a vehicle. There are several disadvantages that accompany externally mounted roof-top light bars. For example, these light bars make the car very conspicuous, which can be undesirable in some circumstance. The externally mounted roof-top light bars also have a negative impact on vehicle aerodynamics, which is associated with reduced gas mileage and also noise. Further, the fasteners for roof-top mounted light bars typically require openings to be drilled or otherwise formed in the roof. These openings can leak when it rains and can reduce resale value when it comes time to retire the vehicle from the fleet.
Some signal lighting has been adapted for being mounted inside a vehicle to avoid the foregoing problems. However, other problems can be encountered when signal lighting is mounted inside a vehicle. For example, the signal lighting needs to be visible from the exterior of the vehicle when the signal lighting is in use. Also, signal lighting inside the vehicle can be distracting to the driver and other people inside the vehicle, particularly if the signal lighting reflects off the vehicle windows or is otherwise visible to people within the vehicle.
The present inventors have developed an improved interior signal lighting system, which will be described below.